THINK ABOUTIT UFO SIGHTINGS REPORT

2006: Metallic Disc Observed Over San Francisco Bay, Tiburon

On a bright Sunday late morning in November 2006, a Tiburon, California father was helping his 10-year-old son with a book report when the boy, known in the family for his sharp eyesight and knack for spotting wildlife, pointed out an odd black speck over San Francisco Bay from their third-floor balcony. What his father first mistook for a parachute wasn’t losing altitude the way one should. He steadied a pair of binoculars against the balcony railing and found a perfectly round, flat, dark metallic disc, roughly 30 to 50 feet across and higher than 2,000 feet, slowly banking and turning through gentle figure eights, catching the sun in golden flashes, and making no sound at all, even as other aircraft in the area were clearly audible.

Date: November 5, 2006

Sighting Time: Approximately 11:45 a.m. to 11:50 a.m. (viewed for 5 to 10 minutes total)

Day/Night: Day

Location: Tiburon, California, viewed from a third-story balcony facing southwest toward Belvedere Island, over San Francisco Bay

Urban or Rural: Urban

No. of Entity(s): Not Applicable

Entity Type: Not Applicable

Entity Description: Not Applicable

Hynek Classification: DD — Daylight Disc. A metallic or whitish object seen in the day at extended range through optical aid.

Duration: Approximately 5 minutes of clear observation (5 to 10 minutes total before the object was lost from view)

No. of Object(s): 1

Description of the Object(s): A perfectly round, flat, dark-colored disc with no bulges, markings, exhaust ports, or lines of any kind on its exterior; remained in constant, gentle motion performing slow “figure eights,” tilting, banking, and turning, without hovering fixed over one point and without losing altitude; the sun intermittently reflected off its surface with a bright, slightly golden flash as it turned, visible even to the naked eye, though the object itself was very difficult to see without binoculars

Shape of Object(s): Disc, perfectly round and flat

Size of Object(s): Approximately 30 to 50 feet wide

Color of Object(s): Dark, with a metallic surface inferred from its golden-toned reflectivity when catching sunlight

Distance to Object(s): Estimated approximately 4 miles away, just south of Belvedere Island

Height & Speed: Estimated altitude of 2,250 to 3,000 feet above sea level (roughly three to four times the height of the Golden Gate Bridge’s main tower, used by the witness as a reference point); moved slowly, remaining within a small area of sky throughout the sighting

Number of Witnesses: 2 (the reporting witness, a 48-year-old man, and his 10-year-old son, who first spotted the object)

Special Features/Characteristics: The witness’s son, described by the family as having excellent eyesight and a talent for spotting birds and wildlife, was the first to notice the object; witness deliberately stabilized his binoculars by kneeling and bracing his elbows on the balcony railing to counter hand shake before achieving a clear, sustained view; object made absolutely no audible sound, in contrast to commercial aircraft and a local sightseeing seaplane the witness states are both regularly audible from the same location; witness has approximately 20 years of professional aviation industry experience, having worked for a commuter airline at Sacramento (SMF) Airport, and stated confidently that the object was not any kind of airplane, jet, blimp, or ultralight; approximately 20 to 30 minutes after the sighting ended, two military jets were observed circling the area, sounding similar to F-18s the witness had heard during a Fleet Week Blue Angels appearance weeks earlier; the witness explicitly noted, without overclaiming a connection, that this could plausibly have instead been an unrelated military flyover for a 49ers football game at Candlestick Point occurring around the same time; the witness reported the sighting the same day to his girlfriend and later submitted it to NUFORC, with the same account also independently archived by the Northern Ontario UFO Research & Study organization (NOUFORS)

Case Status: Unexplained

Source: NUFORC; also archived by NOUFORS (Northern Ontario UFO Research & Study), noufors.com

Summary/Description: On the late morning of November 5, 2006, a Tiburon, California resident and his 10-year-old son observed a perfectly round, flat, dark metallic disc, approximately 30 to 50 feet wide, flying over San Francisco Bay near Belvedere Island at an estimated altitude of 2,250 to 3,000 feet. Using stabilized binoculars, the witness watched the object perform slow, gentle figure-eight turns and banks for about five minutes, catching sunlight in bright golden flashes, with no sound audible despite other aircraft in the area being clearly heard. The witness, a former commuter airline employee with about 20 years of aviation industry background, was confident the object was not any known type of aircraft.

Related Cases: None documented on this site, though this sighting occurred within two days of the well-documented November 7, 2006 O’Hare International Airport UFO sighting in Chicago, a separate and unrelated multi-witness metallic disc case that drew significant national attention; no connection between the two events is established, but the near-simultaneous timing of two distinct metallic disc reports is noted as a point of interest

Full Report

11/05/06, Tiburon, CA, 11:45am, viewed flying disc for 5 minutes, it turned and banked slowly with bright reflection.

I am a 48-year-old man who lives in Tiburon, California, and from approximately 11:45 am to 11:50 am on Sunday, November 5, 2006, my son (age 10) and I observed a flying disc flying over San Francisco Bay. The sun was bright, the air was somewhat hazy, and while it had been foggy earlier that morning, the sky was fairly clear.

My son and I were just getting ready to start working on his book report when I received a phone call. When the call was finished, my son, who has excellent eyesight and is well-known in the family for his ability to spot birds and other wildlife, asked me to identify the flying object that he could see from our outdoor third-story balcony, which faces southwest towards Belvedere Island.

It took me about twenty seconds to see what he was pointing at, and, when I did, I could see a black speck that, at first, reminded me of a parachute. But as I watched the object I noticed that, while it was moving slightly in the sky, it was not losing altitude the way a parachutist naturally would. We own some fairly high-power binoculars, so I quickly retrieved them and attempted to fix my gaze on the object in question. At first it was difficult to see the object because my arms were shaking slightly and the object was moving around in my view. I then kneeled down on my knees, placed my elbows on the balcony railing so as to provide a stable platform, and then focused the binoculars. At this point, I could see the object clearly. It was a perfectly round, dark-colored disk (flat, no bulges), and it was in constant motion doing gentle and slow “figure eights,” tilting, banking, and turning slowly. There were no markings on the exterior, no exhaust ports, no lines or markings of any type.

The flying disc stayed in the same small area of the sky; it was in constant motion, slowly turning and banking, thus it was not hovering horizontally over a fixed point. We live near the Golden Gate Bridge, and I just checked online, and the main tower of the bridge is about 750 feet high. I estimate that this object was flying about three to four times higher than the main tower of the Golden Gate Bridge, or about 2,250 to 3,000 feet above sea level. The disc was flying just south of Belvedere Island (I estimate four miles away), and the object appeared to be about 30 to 50 feet wide.

As mentioned, the flying disc was in constant motion, and as it turned and banked slowly in the sky, the sun intermittently reflected off its surface with a very bright, slightly golden-colored reflection. From this, I guess that the object had a metallic exterior surface. My son and I took turns looking through the binoculars, and when I watched the object with my naked eye, it was difficult to see the small dark speck in the distance; however, as it turned and the sun reflected off its surface, the bright flash was quite noticeable to the naked eye.

There is a fairly high amount of commercial aviation flights in our area, and there is also a sightseeing seaplane that operates out of Sausalito, and when these planes fly by, we can hear the noise. The flying disk made no noise whatsoever that we could hear. After about five to ten minutes of viewing, I went inside to get my camera, but when I returned, I could no longer see the object.

I called my girlfriend to report what we had seen, and then my son and I started to work on his book report. After about 20 minutes or so, we heard the very loud and unmistakable sound of military jets flying in our area. About three weeks earlier we had viewed the Blue Angels (F-18s) during Fleet Week, and the sound was much the same, much louder than commercial planes. We went out to the balcony and observed two military jets circling the area. This was just after noon, or about 12:15 to 12:30 pm. We presumed that the jets were investigating what we had just seen, but, subsequently, I heard that there was a military flyover for the 49ers football game at Candlestick Point, so now I am not so sure.

There is no question in my mind that we saw a flying disc. My son and I could both see it clearly. About twenty years ago I worked for a commuter airline at the Sacramento (SMF) Airport, and I believe that I am experienced at identifying airplanes in the air. What we observed was definitely not an airplane, jet, blimp, ultralight, etc. Given the time of day, the good visibility, and the location over San Francisco Bay, we figure that somebody else must have seen it as well, although I must admit, if not for the excellent eyesight of my son, I never would have noticed it myself.

RESEARCHER’S NOTES

Tiburon, 2006 — Careful Observation Technique From a Modest, Honest Witness

Witness count corrected. This site’s legacy field data listed “Multiple” witnesses; the account describes exactly two confirmed observers, the father and his 10-year-old son. The witness’s own speculation that others in the area likely also saw it is a reasonable inference, not a confirmed additional witness, and is presented as such.
Deliberate observation technique strengthens this account considerably. The witness’s description of stabilizing his binoculars by kneeling and bracing his elbows against the railing, specifically to counteract hand shake, reflects a genuine effort at careful, methodical observation rather than a fleeting glance, and is the kind of procedural detail that adds real weight to the resulting description.
The witness’s honest self-correction about the military jets is a strong credibility marker. Rather than presenting the later military jet activity as confirmed follow-up investigation of the sighting, the witness explicitly flags that it may have been an unrelated flyover for a 49ers game at Candlestick Point that same day, and declines to draw a firm connection. This kind of voluntary walking-back of a tempting but unconfirmed inference is a meaningful positive indicator of the witness’s overall reliability.
Relevant professional background supports the witness’s elimination of conventional aircraft. Approximately 20 years of commuter airline industry experience gives the witness a genuine practical basis for distinguishing aircraft types, strengthening his explicit statement that the object was not a plane, jet, blimp, or ultralight.
Interesting, unconnected temporal proximity to the O’Hare sighting. This Tiburon sighting occurred within two days of the well-known November 7, 2006 O’Hare International Airport metallic disc sighting in Chicago, an entirely separate, independently documented case with its own distinct multi-witness record. No link between the two is established or implied, but the near-simultaneous appearance of two distinct metallic disc reports is worth noting as a point of interest for readers tracking broader patterns in the case record.

A father and his sharp-eyed ten-year-old son spent five careful minutes with stabilized binoculars watching a perfectly round, markless, metallic disc bank slowly through figure eights above San Francisco Bay, catching the sun in silent golden flashes while every other aircraft in earshot made noise. The father, with two decades in the aviation industry, never wavered on what it wasn’t. What it was remains exactly as open a question today as it was the moment he lost sight of it going inside for his camera.